Gradient Investments LLC Buys 3,440 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 76,581 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 3,440 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $10,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth $245,000. LVW Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,576 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Sweeney & Michel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $939,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 132,333.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,973 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 3,970 shares during the period. Finally, Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in Blackstone by 16.1% during the first quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,340 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX traded up $2.66 on Friday, reaching $140.42. 3,676,336 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,792,588. The firm has a market cap of $102.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.65.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.